By Michael Lindsay
One of Tennessee’s best region tournament quarterfinal games was held in Gainesboro Saturday evening as the Jackson County Blue Devils (20-8) defeated Smith County (14-15) in double overtime, 65-55.
“Smith County played a heck of a game,” said Jackson County head coach Kevin Thomas. “It was back and forth, and I thought our kids stayed the course and stayed with it. We had tremendous leadership by our seniors there at the end of the game.”
Only four players scored for Jackson County on Saturday, and each had at least 14 points. Jordan Arroyo led the Blue Devils with 20, followed by Hayden Story with 15, Kendrick Brown with 15 and Waylon Kennedy with 14.
“We kept telling them that they’re going to keep playing hard and they’re not going to quit,” Thomas said. “As the game progressed, Jordan Arroyo just got better.”
Smith County was led by 17 points by point guard Matthew Sinclair.
Saturday’s double-overtime thriller featured 12 ties and lead changes throughout the 40 minutes of game action that spanned nearly two hours.
Jackson County got off to a quick start as they jumped out to a 14-6 lead to end the first period.
The Blue Devils took control of the game in the second quarter as an Arroyo basket with 1:52 left until halftime put Jackson County ahead 23-12.
Smith County caught fire to end the second period as the Owls reeled off a 7-0 run over the last 1:30 of the second quarter to trail 23-19 at halftime.
The Owls kept their hot streak going after the break as a Taylor Dirkson three-pointer gave Smith County their first lead, 27-24, with 5:03 left in the third quarter.
The Owls held a 30-28 lead late in the third before a pair of Brown free throws tied the game at 30 entering the fourth quarter.
Jackson County pushed their lead out to 6 points (36-30) less than 40 seconds into the fourth period via an and-one from Story and a three-pointer by Kennedy.
Smith County battled back to tie the game at 38 via a Hix three-pointer with 4:20 remaining. Jackson County held two separate leads over the final 4:00 of the fourth, but Smith County tied the game each time to send the game to overtime tied at 42.
Jackson County had a look under their own basket with 1.2 seconds left in regulation but was unable to convert.
In the first overtime, Jackson County took a 44-42 advantage before a Rigsby three-pointer and a pair of Hix free throws gave Smith County a 47-44 lead with 42.5 seconds remaining.
Jackson County’s Waylon Kennedy and Smith County’s Clayton Rigsby traded a pair of free throws on the ensuing possessions as Smith County held a 49-46 lead with 29 seconds left.
With his team’s season on the line, Jackson County’s Hayden Stacy nailed a three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining in overtime to tie the game at 49.
“We were going to Waylon or Hayden, and they took away what we were wanting to do,” coach Thomas said. “We did a good job of getting that ball reversed and Hayden was where he was supposed to be.”
The Owls had a look at the rim at the buzzer that didn’t fall, sending the game to a second overtime tied at 49.
In the second overtime, Jackson County jumped out to a 53-50 lead with 3:05 left via a basket from Brown and two Kennedy free throws. Smith County hit a free throw in the opening minute of the frame.
The Blue Devils began to pull away with 2:45 left in the second overtime as Arroyo pulled down a defensive rebound and was immediately fouled, sending him to the free-throw line where he made 1 of 2 to put his team ahead 54-50.
A Jackson County steal on the ensuing possession gave Stacy a transition layup before an Arroyo and-one with 1:49 pushed the Blue Devil lead to 59-50. Jackson County closed out strong from there to win by a 65-55 final score.
“Having senior players,” coach Thomas credited for his team’s performance late. “They’ve been in a lot of big games. I thought our crowd was tremendous and they’ve done a great job following us this year. Our students have been great all year.”
Up next for Jackson County is the Region 3-2A semifinals Tuesday evening as they face Watertown at Monterey.
Jackson County (65): Jordan Arroyo 20, Hayden Story 17, Kendrick Brown 15, Waylon Kennedy 14
Smith County (55): Matthew Sinclair 17, Payton Hix 13, Taylor Dirkson 11, Clayton Rigsby 10, Taylor Kemp 5
